Cash on the Table

The 2014 election might have been the most expensive midterm ever, and it might have seen some of the most extravagant spending on wall-to-wall advertising ever — but when Election Day had come and gone, there was a surprising amount of money still sitting on the table.

The Service Employees International Union PAC reported yesterday that, as of Nov. 24, it had $19.7 million in cash on hand. It spent $29 million over the course of the two-year cycle, but that’s a very large pile of leftovers. In previous years the union, which did not return requests for comment, has ended the cycle with sizable sums of cash left in its bank accounts, but never this much. In 2012, it had $8.4 million left at the end of the year and in 2010 it had $10.5 million.

Other unions also decided not to empty their accounts. Of the top 20 organizations in terms of cash on hand as of Nov. 24 (the latest date available), seven were union PACs or super PACs. The United Auto Worker’s PAC had $9 million remaining (in 2012 it had $6.3 million left over and in 2010, $3.4 million), and the UAW Education Fund (the union’s super PAC) had an additional $5.1 million.

It wasn’t for the lack of targets or need. Democratic and liberal groups were outspent this cycle, a CRP analysis has found. And several other prominent union PACs and super PACs spent their funds down much closer to zero.

The AFL-CIO’s Worker’s Voice super PAC, for instance, raised $20.3 million this cycle, and spent $20.2 million — taking into account a little cash left from last cycle, it had $293,000 remaining on Nov. 24. Similarly, the National Education Association Advocacy Fund raised $21.8 million, spent $20.7 million and had just $1.2 million left on Nov. 24.

The money left unspent by the unions is even more striking when compared to a list of groups that spent the most in the final days before the election — Worker’s Voice is the biggest union organization on the list, and despite its bulging bank accounts, the SEIU was No. 26. If unions weren’t the top spenders in the final days of the election, it wasn’t because the money wasn’t available.

While some unions may have been unwilling to spend, the super PAC set up by billionaire-turned-climate-crusader Tom Steyer did everything it could to unload its money, even straying from its climate-oriented mission. Steyer had pledged to raise $100 million in the cycle — including $50 million from himself — and he ended up putting in $66.9 million of the $77 million raised by NextGen Climate Action. But as of Oct. 15, with just days to go before the election, the group reported having $19 million in cash on hand.

With only so many ad-spots left to buy and so few competitive races in play, it seemed plausible that a good part of Steyer’s enormous gifts to the group — of the known donors to all groups this cycle, he was the single largest — would be for naught if they couldn’t be spent. But according to filings made yesterday covering the period through Nov. 4, NextGen Climate Action was able to unload most of its money — it was left with $4.7 million, not much relative to what Steyer put in.

NextGen Climate Action spent $5 million on last minute ad buys advocating for or against candidates and spent $2.5 on general operating expenses. But the bulk of the group’s money — $7.9 million — went to other groups, mainly state affiliates, which could spend the money on the local level.

The cash was given to a variety of liberal groups, some closely aligned but not all environmental in nature. For example, it gave $434,000 to NARAL, the pro-abortion rights organization, and its Colorado affiliate. It also gave six-figure donations to VoteVets.org Action Fund, a liberal outside group, and Rock the Vote, the MTV-promoted get-out-the-vote initiative.

Republicans Stockpiling Cash

For the time being, figures on how much Senate candidates had left over after the election are not available (Senate candidates file on paper, and although their disclosure reports covering the final days before the election and right after were due yesterday, most are not yet electronically available). But a number of prominent House Republicans made the list of those left with a pile of cash.

Notably, of the top 20 PACs or committees with money left over, only one Democratic candidate appears on the list — Rep. Lloyd Doggett (Texas), who was 15th with $3.1 million in his campaign committee as of Nov. 24.

Russ joined the Center in March 2012 as the money-in-politics reporter. His duties include reporting for OpenSecrets Blog and assisting with press inquiries. Russ has a background in investigative journalism, having worked as a reporter for the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University, and he spent five years as a newspaper reporter in New Hampshire. He has a degree in political science from Muhlenberg College and a M.A. in journalism and public affairs from American University.

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